During my 7 year stint with John Deere CO. in Minneapolis in the 60's, William Hewitt was first President, then Chairman of the Board.  He stayed on as chairman until the early 80's, I think.  His wife was Patricia Deere Winman, which was either a great or great-great granddaughter of John Deere.  Up to and including Hewitt's term, all the Chairmen of the Board, were relatives of the Deere family.  The question is, did the policies of Deere and Company change when there was no longer a member of the Deere family on the Board?

https://www.deere.com/en_US/corporate/our_company/about_us/history/past_leaders/past_leaders.page?